The Oldenburg Film Festival has picked two iconoclast filmmakers to honor for its 30th anniversary edition: French actor/director Isild Le Besco and Canadian producer Jen Gatien. Both women have carved out unique paths in independent cinema, defying conventions and expectations.
Le Besco has worked in front of the camera since she was eight, and by her early 20s was already a face of French auteur cinema, with two César nominations — for her performances in Benoît Jacquot’s Sade (2000) and Cédric Kahn’s Roberto Succo (2001) and a best actress honor in Venice for Jacquot’s L’Intouchable (2006).
Her directorial debut, 2004’s Demi-Tarif (Half-Price), the story of three young siblings, Romeo (Kolia Litscher), Launa (Lila Salet), and the youngest, Leo (Cindy David), left on their own in a rundown Paris apartment, was an unmediated look into the world of childhood and drew praise from the likes of Mia Hansen-Løve, whose review,...
Le Besco has worked in front of the camera since she was eight, and by her early 20s was already a face of French auteur cinema, with two César nominations — for her performances in Benoît Jacquot’s Sade (2000) and Cédric Kahn’s Roberto Succo (2001) and a best actress honor in Venice for Jacquot’s L’Intouchable (2006).
Her directorial debut, 2004’s Demi-Tarif (Half-Price), the story of three young siblings, Romeo (Kolia Litscher), Launa (Lila Salet), and the youngest, Leo (Cindy David), left on their own in a rundown Paris apartment, was an unmediated look into the world of childhood and drew praise from the likes of Mia Hansen-Løve, whose review,...
- 9/14/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
An instance of radical lo-fi homespun cinema: actress Isild Le Besco's short feature directorial debut, Demi-tarif. It stars four children, two young girls (Cindy David, Lila Salet), a boy (Kolia Litscher)...and Le Besco's camera. The three actors, each character from a different father, are stranded in Paris without their mother, and the only supervision they have is by the filmmaker's handheld, consumer Dv camera (shot by the director's brother). The camera naturally becomes a spiritual and physical collaborator and cohort in the children's free-wheeling bohemian existence. They steal food and clown and play—not at being a real family, but at playing at being a family (or an enclave or a utopia).
The tender magnificence of this small video is that Le Besco and her collaborators—as there can be no doubt the children in their camera-aware parading are co-authors of the film—are not filming a fantasy film,...
The tender magnificence of this small video is that Le Besco and her collaborators—as there can be no doubt the children in their camera-aware parading are co-authors of the film—are not filming a fantasy film,...
- 3/21/2011
- MUBI
This is probably the most difficult Top 10 rankings I ever did - more difficult than the updated Top 10 for the actors. I have to find a balance wherein I give proper credit to certain actresses who have already established themselves and are already well-known by fans and ordinary moviegoers vis-a-vis those who have yet to boast of a growing list of followers, but has shown such unforgettable and powerful acting in some very impressive recently released films. At the end of the day, what really matters is that - at this moment - it was her name and her performances that moviegoers and critics alike are talking and raving about. - - -
# 10 - Isild Le Besco: France’s multi-award winning and multi-talented actress Isild le Besco is hot on the heels of Romola Garai in our Top 50 hottest young actresses at #10. Says film critic Marcy Dermansky:
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# 10 - Isild Le Besco: France’s multi-award winning and multi-talented actress Isild le Besco is hot on the heels of Romola Garai in our Top 50 hottest young actresses at #10. Says film critic Marcy Dermansky:
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- 7/23/2009
- The Movie Fanatic
This is probably the most difficult Top 10 rankings I ever did - more difficult than the updated Top 10 for the actors. I have to find a balance wherein I give proper credit to certain actresses who have already established themselves and are already well-known by fans and ordinary moviegoers vis-a-vis those who have yet to boast of a growing list of followers, but has shown such unforgettable and powerful acting in some very impressive recently released films. At the end of the day, what really matters is that - at this moment - it was her name and her performances that moviegoers and critics alike are talking and raving about. - - -
# 10 - Isild Le Besco: France’s multi-award winning and multi-talented actress Isild le Besco is hot on the heels of Romola Garai in our Top 50 hottest young actresses at #10. Says film critic Marcy Dermansky:
- -...
# 10 - Isild Le Besco: France’s multi-award winning and multi-talented actress Isild le Besco is hot on the heels of Romola Garai in our Top 50 hottest young actresses at #10. Says film critic Marcy Dermansky:
- -...
- 7/23/2009
- The Movie Fanatic
This is probably the most difficult Top 10 rankings I ever did - more difficult than the updated Top 10 for the actors. I have to find a balance wherein I give proper credit to certain actresses who have already established themselves and are already well-known by fans and ordinary moviegoers vis-a-vis those who have yet to boast of a growing list of followers, but has shown such unforgettable and powerful acting in some very impressive recently released films. At the end of the day, what really matters is that - at this moment - it was her name and her performances that moviegoers and critics alike are talking and raving about. - - -
# 10 - Isild Le Besco: France’s multi-award winning and multi-talented actress Isild le Besco is hot on the heels of Romola Garai in our Top 50 hottest young actresses at #10. Says film critic Marcy Dermansky:
- -...
# 10 - Isild Le Besco: France’s multi-award winning and multi-talented actress Isild le Besco is hot on the heels of Romola Garai in our Top 50 hottest young actresses at #10. Says film critic Marcy Dermansky:
- -...
- 7/23/2009
- The Movie Fanatic
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